The Slow Path
by sarraboo
Summary: Five and a half hours later, the Tardis was empty. (GitF, post GitF)
1. Chapter 1

**A/N - Helloo! Not a native English speaker hence the grammar mistakes. Oh, I tried. Unbeta'ed.**

**Disclaimer - Not mine.**

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THE SLOW PATH

CHAPTER ONE

Rose Tyler has been standing in front of the broken mirror for quite a while now. Mickey was beginning to feel worried for his friend. It was an understatement that he did not give a shit about that alien git right now. The doctor could take care of himself just fine and now that he got that French courtesan with him, he was probably having a great time.

No words could describe his anger towards the doctor. _How dare him swanning off just like that_. First he left them with the clockwork droids and now this! The Doctor knew there wasn't going to be any way back to them when he left. Yet he still went and left him and Rose stranded on the spaceship.

Rose. _Poor, poor Rose. Waiting for her Doctor for five and a half hours now._

When the Doctor first came and took Rose with him, Mickey was livid. But he could see that the first doctor, the daft old doctor was completely taken with Rose. It wasn't easy to accept it at first but after a while Mickey rooted for them to be together._ Not that he's going to admit it out loud tho._ He slowly began to accept the Doctor as a friend after the whole Christmas invasion thing, fully knowing that Rose wasn't coming back to him.

And then came Sarah Jane. The whole thing with Sarah Jane has been quite an eye opener for him and Rose but it was Rose who was affected most by it. Yes, he did think the Doctor as a friend who occasionally drop by (and steal his girlfriend) but to the Doctor, Mickey Smith was the tin dog. So it's safe to say that the introduction of Sarah Jane did not mean much to him. He listened to their conversation when Rose finally approached the Doctor and he knew Sarah Jane was listening to them too.

"No. Not to you," he said. He swore he heard Sarah Jane's heart broke all over again at that, probably wondering what the hell she ever did for the Doctor to left her just like that years ago.

And today Mickey realized that Sarah Jane probably did nothing wrong. It was the Doctor all along. _He comes and goes as he pleases._ But Mickey never thought the Doctor would do such thing to Rose. No, not her first Doctor. Hell, they even willing to die just to save one another!

He was really, really confused to be honest. The daft old alien and pinstriped pretty boy was literally the same person. _Tell me Doctor, why did you do that? You killed yourself just to save the person you love and then leave her when the next pretty thing comes along?_

Or maybe he was the wrong one here. Maybe the Doctor never loves Rose like he thought. _And maybe despite being an alien, the Doctor is just another bloke._ Hmmph. _Wait until Jackie hears about this._

Shut up Mick. This is not the time to quote Draco Malfoy.

"BAAAAAAAAAAAAAAM!"

A loud blast from inside the Tardis knocked both him and Rose down. He could feel blood trickling down his head.

_Maybe Jackie's not going to hear about this._


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N : Thanks for reading! Sorry for the grammar mistakes. **

**Disclaimer: characters are not mine.**

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Chapter Two

When the Doctor left them stranded on the spaceship, Rose and Mickey were nervous and worried but they both knew that they still have the emergency program one to send them back home if the Doctor did not come back.

But looking at the half destroyed TARDIS, real fear started to set in. The main console had been blown to bits. There was no way they could access the emergency program one now. The TARDIS was dead. It was Satellite 5 all over again.

"ROSE!" Mickey yelled before she could mourn the death of the blue box.

Rose turned around and let out a bitter laugh as she found herself standing face to face with the lone droid. The droid was pointing a large gun at Mickey and easily had her with its blade at her throat. _Tick Tock. Tick Tock._

"Of course. I should have known," she started. "And now you got a big gun with you too. 51st century gun! Just my luck."

Poor Mickey looked so frightened. She would be too if she had a large gun pointing at her but right now she had a cool metal blade at her throat and there was nothing she could do to help Mickey. He shouldn't have seen this. This was supposed to be a memorable and exciting first trip for Mickey. Well, she supposed this whole thing was memorable enough for him but she wasn't sure if they would survive this time.

While Rose wasn't exactly excited when the Doctor agreed to have Mickey on board but she was grateful for his company for the past few days. The Doctor was a bit distraught over Sarah Jane sudden appearance and he tried so hard to put some spaces between them. He was aloof and detached. Rose did wonder if he planned to send her back home after the whole fiasco. But no, he invited Mickey to come along and ignored her completely.

"You are compatible. Not our first choice but your brain will do."

She frowned. This few weeks had been an emotional roller coaster for her. And now a clockwork droid with an ugly mask trying to make her feel even shittier by letting her know that she wasn't their first choice. _Not even for the damn droids!_

"You could at least spare my feelings before chopping my head off you know," she said, buying whatever time she had left. Her breath became shallow as the droid slowly and almost teasingly, grazed the blade on her skin.

"You talk too much_. You sounds just like your mother_," the droid mimicked the doctor's words.

Ah.

Humiliation surged through her and she let out another bitter laugh. _I bet you'd regret your words Doctor when you find my headless body. _

Mickey looked at her, silently begged her to shut up and not to say anything that would speed up her death. But right now she was even more worried about him. _Guilty_. Guilty for putting him in this situation. She would not be able to live with herself if something happen to Mickey under her watch.

_Doctor, where are you?_

_Help me. _

_Stop it Rose. He's not coming. He has to save Reinette remember?  
_

"Alright then," she began slowly. "You can have my brain but let my friend go."

"No! Rose! Are you crazy!"

She ignored Mickey and looked at her captor. "What d'ya say huh? You let him go and we'll have it your way."

Neither of them saw when Mickey the Idiot suddenly launched himself at the droid and struggled with the gun. The whole thing happened so fast. Rose could only stare in horror as a gunshot was heard and in a second, Mickey was lying down in a pool of blood.

"NO!"

_Is he dead? Is he dead?_

"You bitch!"

She could feel the blade sliced through her chest as she struggled with the gun. Blood soaked her shirt and at that moment she realized that she really didn't care. She got nothing to lose. No Doctor. No Mickey. And she'd probably never see her mum again.

With all her might, she pulled the gun from the droid and shot its head.

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"Mickey. Mickey oh my god, please wake up."

Tears streamed down her face as she held Mickey almost lifeless body in her arm. Mickey opened his eyes and let out a quiet laugh that laced with pain.

"Babe. I'm okay. The blade just grazed my shoulder, don't let the blood fool you."

"Oh thank god! Mickey you gonna be alright don't worry. I got you," she kissed his head. Mickey wanted to ask her what she meant by that but couldn't find the energy to do so.

"We're going home. We'll be fine."

"But how?" He asked, confused.

"You'll see. Just go to sleep. We'll be back at home when you wake up okay? Now sleep."

Rose put his head carefully on the floor, away from his own pool of blood. And at that moment he saw Rose's ripped shirt and her blood soaked her shirt. She was hurt.

"Rose, you're bleeding! "

"I'm not. Shhh Mickey. Sleep. I'll see you later."

She kissed his head again and this time Mickey was too tired to argue.

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"I'm sorry," Rose said as she took the gun on the floor. "I'm sorry."

She wasn't sure who she was saying sorry to. Was it to the TARDIS? Or was it to the Doctor and Mickey? _Probably to all of you_, she decided.

The main console of the TARDIS was already destroyed. But Rose Tyler kept shooting at it again and again until a familiar golden light consumed her.


End file.
